Monday, December 17, 2007

on a final note in 2007

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Dear Friends - I'd like to wish all of you Happy Holidays wherever you are and some relaxing hours with your loved ones. For 2008 366 colourful days, in excellent health, filled with lots of joy and laughter and some adventures along the way to keep life interesting.

Michael and I will be traveling to Muehldorf and Barcelona, visit our families and attend the baptism for my latest godson on december 30th. We will be back in Hong Kong on january 3rd to tackle our hectic daily life again - still very happy and mostly satisfied.

As for now, hugs to all of you, Regine & Michael ***

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Sunday, December 16, 2007

Factory Tour in China




































Recently I had a chance to accompany the GSLG to a factory tour to Hongqi Town/Zhuhai which is around the corner from Macau on the Mainland.
Although it was not such an exciting highlight than last year's Mattell factory tour (but then again who can compete with thousands of Barbie Dolls...) it was very interesting and informative.
We had the opportunity to get a rare glimpse behind the scenes of a plant for transformers and inductors which are used for electronic devices (for example: lighting, computers, cell phones, displays, TV's and many more) For about 1 1/2 hours 4 very knowledgable guides led us through various production areas over two floors. Roughly 4.000 employees are working on hundreds of workstations, similar to assembly lines. The 90% female and 10% male workers are aged between 19-25 and have to master 11 hour shifts during the day (with a 30 min. lunch break plus two 10 min. shortbreaks) and 10 hour shifts during nighttime. The reason for hiring mostly younger females is the fact that they a) still have excellent eyesight and are b) very skillful with their fingers - necessary to wind thin pieces of wire around gazillions of tiny ferrites or coilformers. Most of the employees are living in dormitories close by, provided by the company and are saving their salaries to support their families and build up their own existence somewhere in a poorer mainland region. During all our starring and chatting they never looked up once, continuing to function like robots. Talking about it - although the majority of the work flow is still managed manually, slowly but surely some of the manufacturing is being replaced with very modern machinery. The yearly production number of these components is currently about 300 million.


Once again we left with the awareness of being blessed to lead such a mostly carefree life.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

simply hysterical!

Hey there, I am just returning from my usual English Conversation class which takes place on thursdays. Shortly before walking up to the classroom some of my students approached me to ask whether we could skip the lesson in favour of listening to a pop-concert which would take place during lunch break, of course I agreed. Obviously this event is held 3 times a year and the performers are either teachers or students - what struck me most was the unimaginable noise level in the assembly hall - you have to know, that during last year's Eric Clapton concert for example, all the Chinese in the auditorium of Asia-World-Arena (14.000) didn't even move their little finger to swing along, making the event a rather stiff one - but as soon as some students or teachers are singing along some schmaltzy popsongs they get showered with flowers and the teenage crowd went bonkers. A couple of hundred girls were screaming and waving their glow sticks (provided by teachers at the entrance) which at times made it hard to even hear one word of the songs and after a guy who was invitated from another college took the stage and sang a love duet with one of the form five students, I thought some would loose consciousness, it felt like being in an inferno and I really wonder "where does all this enthusiasm go over the years" between being a teenager and adulthood since it obviously seems to have left the adults during most concerts I attended here. Another funny incident was the fact, that my students were pretty upset when the two on stage started holding hands, they couldn't get over it and told me they considered this gesture as being completely unnecessary - the kids here are so unbelievable well behaved and innocent, it's impossible to compare them to our super brats in Europe around this age (14-16). Anyway, was another fun experience and something to think about.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Chinese Wedding Dress - Kwa



A traditional Kwa is a heavily embroidered formal wedding gown popular in Southern China. It is a tradition to wear a Cheongsam with a red dragon & phoenix design at the wedding day. Dragon & Phoenix symbolize the balance of male and female power.

The color red is considered good luck, a strong color that can keep away evil spirits. The traditional Chinese wedding dress in northern China usually is a one-piece frock named Qi Pao, embroidered with elaborate gold and silver designs. Brides from southern China usually wear a two-piece dress named Qun Gua, Kwa or Cheongsam, also elaborately adorned with a golden phoenix and dragon. In the old days, a piece of red veil was part of the bride's costume to cover her face during the wedding ceremony. Newlyweds would see each other's face for the first time on their wedding night.


....and here's another important tradition during a chinese wedding day:

Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony :

When the bride finally goes out to ascend the car, a bridesmaid will hold a red umbrella over her head, meaning "raise the bark, spread the leaves." Other relatives will scatter rice, red beans and green beans on her. The red umbrella protects the bride from evil spirits, and the rice and beans are to attract the attention of the gold chicken. When the bridal sedan ( motorcade nowadays) arrives at the groom's home, firecrackers and music with gongs and drums greet the bride. The bride will leap over an iron basin with lit charcoal inside. It is a ritual to bring prosperity and keep evils away.

Then at the official ritual that equals to the wedding vow in a western wedding, the newlyweds kneel three times, to heaven and earth, to the ancestral tablets and to their parents. The two then bow to each other. The bride then presents tea to the parents and relatives in sequence of seniority. Those who receive the tea, usually give the bride gifts such as jewelry or Li Shi money wrapped in a red envelope. Thus it's the end of the ritual and the wedding proceeds to the banquet venue.


...finally our own observations during a chinese wedding:

Since we had the privilege to attend a Chinese Wedding Banquet this past weekend, we also noticed that the elderly guests are playing mahjongg before dinner and the bride will change her outfit at least 4/5 times to show off her wealth. What we didn't know was the tradition, that each wedding guest (we were around 250) has to get her/his picture taken with the bride & groom in each of their outfits (luckily in groups of 10) meaning - during several hours this felt more like a red carpet press event than an actual romantic wedding - we didn't start dinner before at least 5 hours into the festivities, making most of the westerners ready to fight over an almond or chew on the table cloth - conclusion - for the next event we will be better prepared, stuffing our stomachs way ahead of time and arrive late...still, it was a day to remember and it's never a waste to learn something new.

Monday, December 3, 2007

schlaflose Teens auch in Hong Kong

Lernen in Südkorea
Jugend ohne Schlaf Südkoreas
Schüler schneiden bei Pisa hervorragend ab, doch die Kritik an der unentwegten Paukerei wächst: Betrugs- und Bestechungsfälle häufen sich, unter Schülern nehmen Depressionen zu, spektakuläre Selbstmorde schockieren das Land.Von Matthias Kolb

Bei Pisa liegen südkoreanische Schüler regelmäßig in der Spitzengruppe.

Der Traum aller südkoreanischen Eltern hat drei Buchstaben: SKY. Die Abkürzung steht für die Elite-Hochschulen des Landes: Seoul National University, Korea University und Yonsei University. Damit es die Kinder dorthin schaffen, ist den Familien kaum ein Opfer zu groß. Und so gilt es als normal, ein Drittel des Einkommens in die Ausbildung der Kinder zu stecken oder sich dafür zu verschulden. Wissenschaftler sprechen von einem "Bildungsfieber", das die Koreaner, aber auch viele Familien in Japan, Taiwan, Hongkong und in der chinesischen Mittelschicht erfasst hat. Viele Mütter kümmern sich hier wie Manager um das Lernprogramm ihres Nachwuchses und planen es Jahre im Voraus. So landen die 15-jährigen Südkoreaner auch in der aktuellen Pisa-Studie wieder in der Spitzengruppe. Die Koreaner sind stolz auf das gute Abschneiden ihrer Jugendlichen, dennoch wächst der Unmut über das Bildungssystem. Das Schulwesen sei zu stark auf die Aufnahmeprüfung für die Universitäten ausgerichtet, sagen Kritiker. Da der Test für alle Oberschüler gleich ist, werden vor allem Fakten auswendig gelernt, aber kaum eigenständiges Arbeiten geübt und Kreativität gefördert. Fast alle Kinder besuchen nach sechs Jahren Grundschule jeweils drei Jahre die Mittel- und Oberschule. Die Konkurrenz ist enorm. Denn es gibt nur wenige Plätze an den Top-Unis und die Leistungen vor den Aufnahmeprüfungen zählen kaum.Am Prüfungstag hält das ganze Land den Atem an. Beamte und Angestellte gehen später zur Arbeit, damit es nicht zu Staus kommt; die Polizei bewacht den Transport der Multiple-Choice-Aufgaben. Für Flugzeuge herrscht eine halbe Stunde lang Start- und Landeverbot, weil es im Englischtest eine Übung zum Hörverständnis gibt.Bildung ist in Südkorea auch ein großes Geschäft. Im Jahr 2004 gaben Eltern insgesamt 14 Milliarden Dollar dafür aus. Hohe Summen fließen in private Paukanstalten, im Koreanischen "hagwon" genannt, die auf den Aufnahme-Test der Unis vorbereiten. Mindestens 75 Prozent aller Mittel- und Oberschüler besuchen diese Nachhilfe-Institute. Für die Kurse sind pro Fach monatlich mindestens 200 Euro fällig. Bei den Preisen gebe es nach oben keine Grenzen, sagt Kong Mahn Park. Seine Tochter Sun Yon bereitete sich drei Jahre lang im "hagwon" in fünf Fächern auf die Prüfung vor, die sie nun vor wenigen Tagen gemeinsam mit 585 000 Schülern ablegte. Park seufzt: "Alle Eltern machen es so."

Betrug und Depression
So quälte sich Sun Yon durch ein enormes Arbeitspensum. Nach dem Unterricht an der High School in Seoul fuhr sie nachmittags zu den Kursen, die gegen 21 Uhr endeten. Mit der U-Bahn ging es nach Hause, wo noch die Hausaufgaben warteten. Auch am Wochenende wird gepaukt, oft müssen sich Schüler das Sprichwort anhören: "Mit vier Stunden Schlaf hat man alle Chancen, fünf Stunden sind zu viel." Die meisten beißen sich durch, da Kinder im konfuzianisch geprägten Südkorea den Eltern selten widersprechen und alle Freunde das gleiche Programm absolvieren. Die Schattenseiten des Verfahrens, das der Pädagogikprofessor Jean-Gon Cheong "die Hölle auf Erden" nennt, werden aber immer deutlicher: Betrugs- und Bestechungsfälle häufen sich, unter Schülern nehmen Depressionen zu, spektakuläre Selbstmorde schockieren das Land. Noch immer erinnern sich viele daran, als vor vier Jahren eine Schülerin aus dem 25. Stock sprang, weil sie ihr Wunschergebnis in der Prüfung nicht erreicht hatte.In kaum einem anderen Land verbringen 15-Jährige mehr Zeit mit der Schule und dem Lernen. Der frühere OECD-Bildungsdirektor Barry McGraw sieht hier die größte Herausforderung: "Südkorea muss versuchen, das hohe Bildungsniveau zu halten und zugleich den Jugendlichen mehr Freizeit zu geben."Der Pädagogikprofessor Hyun-Jeong Park von der Seoul National University plädiert dafür, das Lernumfeld zu verbessern und die Schüler zu entlasten. "Dies ist noch wichtiger, als die Anzahl der Schüler pro Klasse von momentan 35 zu reduzieren", sagt Park. Doch auch dies müsse sich ändern; Korea zählt zu den Staaten mit den meisten Schülern pro Klasse. Dafür legt das Land großen Wert auf die Auswahl der Grundschullehrer. Nur die besten Studenten dürfen später die Kleinen unterrichten. Eine vor kurzem veröffentlichte McKinsey-Studie zum Vergleich von Bildungssystemen legt nahe, dass vor allem die Qualität der Lehrer die guten Resultate der koreanischen Schüler erklärt. Wie kritisch dennoch immer mehr Bürger die eigenen Schulen sehen, zeigt ein neuer Trend. Etwa 60.000 junge Südkoreaner besuchen weiterführende Schulen im englischsprachigen Ausland, meist unter Betreuung der Mütter. Zurück bleiben die Väter, die das nötige Geld verdienen. Soziologen sprechen von "Wildgänse-Vätern", die ihren Familien auch über lange Distanzen treu bleiben und diese wie Zugvögel nur kurz besuchen. Sie sind getrieben von dem Wunsch, dass es ihre Kinder auf eine Spitzen-Universität schaffen, wenn nicht in Korea, dann vielleicht in England oder den USA. (SZ vom 3.12.2007/bön)

----> mein Kommentar dazu:
Diesen Artikel ueber das Schlaf-und Lernverhalten suedkoreanischer Teens, kann ich auch fuer Hong Konger Schueler nur bestaetigen. Alle Schueler der sogen. "Form 5 Stufe", meistens so um die 16 Jahre alt, muessen nach dieser Jahrgangsstufe einen muendlichen , englischen Pflicht-Sprachtest ablegen. Ich gehe als Volunteer 1 x pro Woche (ueber die American Women Association) in eine chinesische, katholische Maedchenschule und "unterrichte" die Maedels in "Conversational English", d.h. damit sie Ihre Sprachkenntnisse praktizieren koennen, sprechen wir ueber alle moeglichen Themen und ich verbessere und erweitere ihren Wortschatz. Auf meine Frage, welche Hobbies sie denn haetten, antworten 2/3 der Klasse in der Regel "Schlafen" - auf Nachfrage wurde ich informiert, dass sie tatsaechlich nach der Schule erst alle moeglichen Nachhilfestunden besuchen wuerden und dann bis mindestens Mitternacht ueber ihren Hausaufgaben brueten - die Wochenenden und Ferien bestehen nach verschiedenen Aussagen auch primaer aus pauken - die Durchschnittsschlafzeit pro Nacht wurde von allen mit 4-5 Std angegeben, der Hammer, wenn man bedenkt, dass es sich um noch heranwachsende Teens handelt. Da geniessen wir Deutschen doch unser Leben in diesem Alter noch etwas anders....
Uebrigens - meine Schuelerinnen nehmen an dieser Englisch-Stunde auf freiwilliger Basis waehrend ihrer Mittagspause teil - d.h., es wird fleissig am Huehnerbeinchen genagt waehrend sie versuchen, Ihre Englischkenntnisse aufzupolieren - was meint Ihr, welche Gerueche mir da manchmal entgegenschlagen und hinsehen darf ich in meinem eigenen Interesse auch nicht so genau, ueberschneiden sich unsere Speiseplaene doch nicht so ganz ;-)

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

A new kid in town






I


just wanted to show you the present construction status of the International Commerce Centre on the harbour side in West Kowloon. The ICC will be the 3rd tallest building in the world and is expected to become the most prominent office landmark in Hong Kong upon its completion in 2010. The mega-tower will be 118 storeys high - Morgan Stanley has already committed to leasing 10 floors for its Asia-Pacific headquarters - 490 metres above sea level and has been designed by world-renown architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. It will become the only integrated, easily accessible Grade-A commerce and retail space along the peninsula but will also contain boutique residences and green spaces, amongst them a vertical garden with plants embedded in a wall to increase the amount of greenery. Innovative green initiatives are being put in place at the ICC to make the skyscraper more energy efficient and environmentally friendly - the project already won high praises for the introduction of energy-saving lifts, air cons that recycle water (it's estimated that this initiative could save about 10.000 cubic metres of water/year which would fill about 4 Olympic-sized swimming pools) the latest LED technology which will be applied for facade lighting to save energy and mitigate light pollution. It's reported that the extra electricity saved from the ICC would be enough for about one month's consumption by 6.500 four-member families in Hong Kong. Very impressive for architecture fans, keep it coming, can't wait!

Friday, November 23, 2007

Irrational Behavior

You won't believe this one - recently the Mainland banned the latest English edition of the popular Lonely Planet travel guide about China - it was censored because it uses light brown and yellow on a map to denote the Mainland and Taiwan, making them look like 2 countries. The Mainland authorities demanded a change, saying it violated mainland laws, but the publisher rejected the demand, resulting in the ban - as you might know, the Mainland still looks at Taiwan as being a part of China and not an independent state - one should really skip politics and the media these days because you might not be able to stop shaking your head over certain issues...

...and the rumble continues...

Today's newspapers were flooded with letters of restaurant and bar bosses who voiced their anger over the decision to scrap the visit of 8.000 American sailors. Beijing granted "humanitarian" grounds but it came too late for the sailors and about 290 family members who had flown into the City for Thanksgiving. It is still not clear why the fleet was denied entry, but an unanounced PLA flight training exercise was held this week over costal areas over the East and South China seas and on wednesday a PLA guided missile destroyer sailed from Guangdong on a historic port visit to Japan.

By the way - poor Michael had to spend 4 solid hours waiting in an airplane on the departure runway in Wuxi on tuesday, also without any further explanation - probabely these events are related.
One restaurant owner is convinced from experience that he missed out on about HKD 2 million from the visit - it's a massive impact on the City, that's for sure and cab drivers and bar owners were equally ticked off. What's especially sad is, that it would have been the last visit to HK for the carrier, which will be decommissioned next year after 46 years of service.

HK-based military expert A.C. said Beijing's action reflected its anger over the planned US sale of missiles to Taiwan and President Bush's recent meeting with the Dalai Lama - Kindergarden!
(source: SCMP)


Thursday, November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving in China - impossible!!


.....and of course the reversed decision made by Beijing came way too late. It must be very frustrating for the families of all the sailors who flew into Hong Kong to surprise and expect their loved ones for a Thanksgiving Holiday....and guess who was one of the volunteers scheduled to work at the information desk of the Fleet Arcade at Fenwick Pier tomorrow - me, sigh......you cannot believe how many emails jammed my inbox during the past weeks to organize all the shifts to welcome 8000 sailors by the American Women Association/AWA - as it turned out, all for nothing in the end, arrggggggghhhhhhhh......


HONG KONG: China reversed a decision on Thursday to block a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group from visiting Hong Kong, but the change of heart by Beijing officials came too late to stop the U.S. naval flotilla from returning to its forward base in Japan. The USS Kitty Hawk and its five support ships were en route back to its base at Yokosuka and were not planning to double back to Hong Kong, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii, Lt. Commander John Filostrat said.


22.11.2007 10:05 Uhr

China und USA
Schlechte Laune vor Thanksgiving
China wollte dem US-Flugzeugträger USS Kitty Hawk das Einlaufen nach Hongkong verwehren - und hätte damit ein dort geplantes Thanksgiving-Fest der Soldaten mit ihren Familien fast vereitelt.

Der amerikanische Flugzeugträger: Ein Besuch der USS Kitty Hawk in Hongkong war seit Wochen geplantFoto: Reuters

Gezerre um Thanksgiving: China hat einem US-Flugzeugträgerverband am Donnerstag erst nach längerem Zögern erlaubt, für das amerikanische Thanksgiving-Fest vor Hongkong zu ankern. Der Besuch der USS Kitty Hawk war seit Wochen geplant, ursprünglich sollte sie bereits am Mittwoch einlaufen. Doch China hatte Medienberichten zufolge zunächst die Erlaubnis verweigert. Daraufhin hatte das US-Außenministeriums mitgeteilt, die etwa 8000 Soldaten an Bord des Flugzeugträgers und der Begleitschiffe würden den Feiertag am Donnerstag nun im südchinesischen Meer verbringen. Es forderte China aber auf, die Entscheidung zu erläutern und zu überdenken.

Am Donnerstag erklärte nun ein Sprecher des Außenministeriums in Peking, die Regierung habe aus "humanitären Gründen" eine Erlaubnis erteilt. Damit solle der Besatzung des Flugzeugträgers und seiner Begleitschiffe ermöglicht werden, Thanksgiving in Hongkong zu feiern. Das amerikanische Erntedankfest ist einer der wichtigsten Feiertage in den USA. In Hongkong warteten auf die Besatzung Hunderte Angehörige, die wegen des traditionellen Familienfestes extra um die halbe Welt geflogen waren. "Ich vermisse meinen Papa", sagte ein 14-jähriger Junge, dessen Vater an Bord der Flotte ist. "Wir dachten, er würde da sein, aber wir wissen nicht, was los ist. Ich bin wirklich traurig."

Spannungen zwischen China und den USA
Chinas Weigerung war eine Überraschung - vor wenigen Wochen hatte US-Verteidigungsminister Robert Gates das Land besucht und sich zuversichtlich über einen langfristigen Dialog mit der Regierung in Peking gezeigt. Allerdings gab es in jüngster Zeit auch Spannungen: So könnte die Entscheidung eine Reaktion auf das jüngste Treffen des Dalai Lamas mit US-Präsident George W. Bush sein. Zudem wollen die USA der abtrünnigen Inselrepublik Taiwan für 940 Millionen Dollar dabei helfen, ihr Raketensystem zu erneuern. US-Kriegsschiffe ankern häufig vor Hongkong. Allerdings kommt es in Krisenzeiten zwischen China und den USA manchmal vor, dass Peking die Erlaubnis verweigert. Nach einem Besuch von US-Verteidigungsminister Robert Gates Anfang des Monats waren die augenblicklichen Beziehungen aber als gut beschrieben worden. (dpa/Reuters/sma/bica

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Nightmare on Po Shan Road

Arggggggggghhhhhhh - before I go on a rampage through my own apartment, I decided it would be better to blow off steam in a Blog - at least I won't be strangling anybody then...I am having the painters in the house since monday, messing up my "peace and order" everywhere they set foot in - having Chinese workers around doesn't just cut off any communication possibilities, it really gives you an impression of what it must look like in rural areas...for example - when I went checking on them while painting in the back of the apartment, one guy had stripped down to his underwear, wearing nothing but his boxer shorts, a headscarf and his socks, unfortunately he didn't look as nearly as attractive as the plumber in Desperate Housewives, sigh...and what sense does it make taking off your shoes when you trudge through pieces of paint on your socks all day long in the first place? - by the way doing this, the painters were joined by the aircon service guys and the Internet technician at the same time and I had the prints all over the place... next thing that sent me off screaming in the inside was the fact that they were using OUR master bathroom which was closed - how much sense does this make when you're having 3 other toilets around?? Then I asked them to cover up the floor with a plastic foil which they hurriedly did just to dump all the debris back on the floor when they folded it upon finishing the job....but the greatest amusement came when I noticed they were taking a shower in the maids bathroom which has no shower curtain and not even a bathroom door because we're using it as storage room for our cleaning utensils, they didn't even bother to close the connecting door to the kitchen and - get this - they didn't even remove my cleaning things including the buckets before showering, meaning before I was able to start wiping the floors later on I first had to rinse the white paint off the buckets...I mean on the one hand I really feel lousy & guilty to picture that they are probabely this poor that they don't have a proper shower opportunity back at their homes, but living in our over-zivilized bubble as we do, it's still hard getting used to this kind of behavior again...and let's not start talking about their teeth....and once again - thank you God for letting us live such a privileged life!!! Tomorrow I'll escape into the great outdoors, I'll go cycling in the New Territories while Michael has to "babysit" them - I am sure he'll be having a blast!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Not the South China Morning Post

As some of you might know, The South China Morning Post is HK's daily newspaper. Founded in 1997 in reaction to the sale of the SCMP by Rupert Murdoch to Peking-friendly billionaire Robert Kuok, in exchange for satellite broadcasting rights in Mainland China, the NTSCMP (Not The South China Morning Post) is Hong Kong's first online English publication and is committed to press freedom - proud to be electronic but never a mere blog - you might find some interesting satirical articles/pictures in there, maybe some of you are curious enough to check it out.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Timeless

I wish days would be timeless, leaving you full of non-stop energy to do what you want forever...in my mind there are stories for one Blog a day but come nightfall, I didn't manage to find the time to write them down....

First of all an ecstatic HURRAY for today - the skies are finally clearing up and we actually get to see the sun again. The pollution, trapped by light winds and hot sun was killing us for five consecutive days and we were living under a cloud of disgusting fingerthick fog - to me, that's the one real downside of Hong Kong. Finally, gone are the 30s and somebody once said that one of the nice things approaching fall is your hair won't be glued to the back of your neck with sweat after five minutes on the street anymore - how true!





Last week, China celebrated its National Holiday and most Mainlanders were on vacation during their "Golden Week", many of them crowding HK as usual. The tourism-related sectors are booming with consumers traveling to HK's "Shopping-Paradise" which always seems to give a huge boost to the economy. People can buy world brand products for much lower prices as compared to the ones in the mainland cities because HK is a tax free heaven and the Yuan (Renmimbi), the currency of the Mainland, is currently stronger than the HKD. The newspapers reported that people even shopped in the real estate and the stock markets. "The rapid growth of economic development of the Chinese mainland and the strengthening individual purchasing power have already made HK residents look at them with new eyes. Eying the huge potential of the holiday economy after opening of "individual visits" to more mainland residents, HK had coordinated their efforts in preparing for mainland visitors well in advance, to ensure that the visitors spend a good time in HK - to summarize it: The Golden Week is a "ready-made-cake" for HK tourism development." To maintain this status is more important than ever, with exploding Macau around the corner.

(Source for some statements in the text: "People's Daily")

On october 1st we got to admire another magnificent firework over Victoria Harbour with tons of heart shaped rockets, red displays of the #8 (lucky number) and lots of Smiley Faces amongst the choreography. This time we even managed to get closer to the action (remember my july disaster?) having secured a balcony space in a restaurant at the eastern part of the harbour on HK Island - hey, one day we'll have worked ourselves through to the complete prime harbour overview but so far there is still room for improvement.
Over 'n out.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Mid-Autumn Festival...

This lantern shows the mascot of the equestrian events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics being held in Hong Kong.

...and Hong Kong lights up its beautifully crafted lanterns again during the next 14 nights! For those who care, the Mid-Autumn-Festival is a 3.000-year-old festival based on the myth about a mischievous wife who was sentenced to life on the moon for eternity. The 15th day of the 8th lunar month (sep 25th this year) is a time to either head to the Beaches with your lanterns in tow or to the park with family & friends to gaze at the full moon, check out the shows, dances and of course the lanterns. You also gather to eat fresh fruits and mooncakes which are sent in hampers throughout the City to wish good luck to your relatives/friends and business partners.

Coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival is the unique Fire Dragon Dance in Tin Hau. "The 67-metre-long dragon is studded with thousands of burning joss sticks that at night produce an incredible spectacle of fire, smoke and dynamic fury as the dragon wends and dances through the backstreets. It's said that in 1880 a plague broke out in Tin Hau and, appearing in the dream of a village elder, Buddha instructed the villagers to light firecrackers and perform a fire dragon dance for three days and nights. Sulphur from the firecrackers dispelled the plague and the ritual has been repeated annually ever since;"

Wong Tai Sin Temple Decoration during Lantern Festival




...and these are impressions from Victoria Park






PS: To enlargen the pictures just click on them.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Batman flies through Hong Kong

It was just reported that segments of the next BATMAN (The Dark Knight) movie will be shot in Hong Kong during 9 days this november. Not only might we become lucky getting a glimpse of some of the cast like Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine or Morgan Freeman in this "remote corner" of the world, but I am sure, the frenzy will create a huge chaos for traffic and pedestrians alike. For those who have already visited, they will shoot an outdoor stunt at the IFC Mall and scenes involving the famous Peninsula Hotel in TsimShaTsui. The crew also plans on filming night views of Victoria Harbour, Central and Victoria Peak from a helicopter, some of the scenes will even feature IMAX special effects. Knowing the citizens of HK (including us) I can already picture that during this period EVERYONE will roam around the streets day and night, taking in some "stay-awake-drinks" in Lan Kwai Fong in between. Anyway looking forward to this pleasant disturbance of our daily life...I'll keep you posted.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

September Haze

At the risk of sounding like a broken tape - I am sooo busy these days that I hardly get to sit down and write a Blog - sorry about that to all of you who are clicking on it regularly. Just to fill you in on what's going on, here a little excerpt:

The weather continues to be disgusting, often grey, mostly sticky and the air is so polluted that the readings break every record at the moment, you can hardly breathe and don't have a big desire to leave the house.

Saturday we went to the Foreign Correspondent Club's Charity Ball where Sergio Mendes put on a great brazilian show but - like always with these events - way too loud. We were dancing our feet off despite the crowds and I had no voice left on sunday since I was singing/yelling along to most of the tunes. The food was fantabulous and we had much more fun than I'd expected. The FCC also gave out a lot of Raffle prizes and Michael won a bordeaux cashmere scarf plus cap - no doubt he'll need it in our subtropical climate! I got my hands on some Vodka in a tube, obviously something new which you can check out under www.drinkthetube.com - just what the world needed! Sergio Mendes provided each of the 1000 guests with his latest Grammy winning album TIMELESS which I already bought last year, but hey, I consider them as the first useful X-mas gifts for the coming holiday season, be prepared!

Sunday we took a car ride around Hong Kong and by chance ended up at the Museum of Coastal Defense - the so called Lei Yue Mun Fort was built in the 1880s "to defend the eastern approach to Victoria Harbour and was the most sophisticated coastal fortification at that time. During the Japanese invasion in 1941 fierce fighting took place there and heavy casualties were inflicted. We could see various historical military structures and many military relics.

In addition we visited the permanent exhibition about "600 Years of Hong Kong's Coastal Defence" consisting of the Ming and Quing dynasties, the British period, the Japanese invasion and the period after Hong Kong's reversion to Chinese sovereignty which was really stunning and very informative.

Usually you could also get a spectacular view of Victoria Harbour and its surroundings from the top but unfortunately - the haze once again...

Monday was my first dance class after a long summer (yes, I am still dancing!)- Salsa went pretty effortless but the Cha-Cha was a bit more challenging - we already advanced with the figures and I am wondering whether we'll ever be able to dance
like this on a crowded dance floor - and with WHOM, since our dancing instructor is the only guy who "lays hand on us" so far - still, I missed it and I am glad me and my 3 pals are finally back there, it puts us in a great mood for the rest of the day! Once we've finalized the current session, we will try to get our husbands and some more friends to start stumbling along and join us in our efforts...

Tuesday the yearly AWA (American Women Association) kick-off meeting for the 2007/2008 season took place where the new board of directors, their program for the coming months and some Charities were introduced. My mission on this day was to recruit enough paddle enthusiasts to sign up for next year's AWA dragonboat which I will coach and coordinate this time. I don't know how I always manage to get myself involved in these time consuming tasks (just kidding, of course I do!) but then again I think I just have too much energy to waste it on the couch and I LOVE to organize any kind of event as everybody knows - consider it my challenge for 2007/2008 - I'll keep you posted and I am sure, complaints will follow at some point...

Wednesday was the 1st official AWA hike of the season and I decided to participate since I am a bit out of shape because there is not much you can do physically during these hot summers in SE Asia - plus, I need to set a good example for the next months, building up strength, uahhhh - we hiked along the Dragon's Back, one of the most beloved hikes in HK with magnificent views over the beaches of Shek O and Big Wave Bay (on the South Side of HK)- luckily I didn't have to regret it in the end, I was worried I'd suffocate in that sticky air, temps are still in the high 80s (32 Grad). Of course we rewarded ourselves with a superb traditional chinese lunch and a long dip in the sea afterwards - life as a housewife can be good at times ;-)

Gota sign off now, will write again in a couple of days, so long and cheerio!

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Airbus A 380 in Hong Kong

View from Victoria Peak to watch the A380 which is on a round-the world promotional tour flying low (304m above the water) over the western part of HK Island approaching Victoria Harbour yesterday.
Foto Source: South China Morning Post

Friday, August 31, 2007

"Future Shopping and Gambling on Steroids" - The Cotai Strip in Macau

Yesterday we had a Farewell Party to attend in Macau which was nearly made impossible to reach - the only ferries we were able to still book were leaving at 2:45pm to Macau coming back at 12:30am - the reason for the crazyness?
Here's what I've read and heard -

Besides the existing casinos and the 11-months-old Wynn Macau, the 3000-suite Venetian Macao Resort Hotel which is the world's biggest casino and the 2nd largest building by floor area worldwide opened it's doors this week. It's located on the so called Cotai Strip which originates from combining the names of the surrounding islands of Coloane and Taipa and will host 350 shops of which 160 are open so far. Every major international luxury brand will have a presence on the Strip in the near future since the chinese customer is considered the highest spending tourist on retail (outside of his country) in the world - Chinese people just love to shop.

The frantic pace of hotel development on the Strip will result in more than 20.000 rooms in more than 10 Las Vegas-style luxury resorts with nearly 3.000 gambling tables being available by 2009/2010. I heard that the Convention Centre in the Venetian is already fully booked for the coming 2 years and I am sure it'll become a huge competitor for the HK Exhibition & Convention Centre. The hotel will boast a 2-level Buddha Bar, a pool big enough to water-ski in and - of course - a 1.800 seat theatre for a permanent, new Cirque de Soleil show plus a 15.000-seat indoor arena that puts anything in HK to shame. In October the NBA's Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers are expected followed by a match between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras in november which was completely sold out within days.

Next door the Four Seasons, the InterContinental, Shangri-La, Traders, Sheraton & St. Regis, Hilton, Conrad, Fairmont & Raffles, Ritz-Carlton, Macau Studio City Hotel AND a Playboy Mansion are currently under construction, each with 100ds of more upscale shops AND malls - each of the properties will be connected by elevated walkways and footbridges to assure smooth traffic...and then there are of course the other casinos on the Macau Peninsula itself... Official forecasts predict that Macau can expect an annual 40 million arrivals by 2010.

W O W - but will these projects be able to fulfill the high expectations of Macau investors and where do they get enough bilingual, well-trained staff to keep up the standards of 5* and 6* hotels? Maybe I should return to my original professional roots, like this I could monitor the developments with my own eyes.

...and where does that leave the old native macanese families who have to put up with such a zoo in the future - after all, for many years they were used to living mostly simple lives in a peaceful, sleepy fishing village with one small casino for the locals - the Lisboa...

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Home Sweet Home

although I was wondering whether I was really back in HK at first - while starring out of our kitchen window after our return I saw one of the construction workers right next to our building standing on top of the deserted construction platform, throwing his shoes from his feet, carefully emptying his pant pockets, unrolling a small carpet and getting ready for his prayers in the direction of Mecca - never seen this happening in the middle of a construction site before...

...hey there, just checking in - hope everyone had a fantabulous summer and isn't caught up too much in the daily life duties already - our trip to Munich was as turbulent as always, apologies to those I haven't called but I was really busy, more on that in private emails if anybody is curious...after having lived in the States for 8 years and now in Hong Kong since nearly 2 years, Germany seems more and more like "toy land" upon arrival - the ride to my hometown takes me about an hour from the airport and passing through small villages, seeing the countryside and the mountains flying by in the distance, everything seems so peaceful and in order but also rather smallish in comparison to NYC or HK - I wonder whether one day Germany will serve as a gigantic holiday Spa for tourists visiting from overcrowded countries like China and India in search of a little crispy clear air and some peaceful picturesque nature? Anyway, we enjoyed it as much as always and had a good time. In the meantime we also managed to put the jetlag behind us and sleepless nights sitting on the balcony while munching on german gummibaer's are in the past.

Fall seems to become very busy with classes, trips and visitors pouring in but I'll make time to keep on telling you what's going on in HK, promised....ciao for today...

Monday, July 23, 2007

PS

...forgot to mention a)that you can take the next 5 weeks to dig through the previous Blog because I will be traveling to Germany and won't be posting anything until september b)after the past events I nearly can whistle along the Chinese Hymn by heart...

Have A Great Summer!!!

Summertime - and the living is easy

31 degrees - U2's "A Beautiful Day" on my Ipod speakers (sounds like a cliche, I am fully aware, but that's what it was) while crawling up and down The Peak - higher speed is impossible due to permanent dripping from sweat, arghhh...still - what a priviledged life here in Hong Kong!
As promised I will try to summarize my activities during the past 3 weeks --->

* it started with the stunning fireworks on july 2nd which we unfortunately had to watch from the 3rd row pushed back further into Tsim Sha Tsui than we expected. Although arriving 1 hour before the action was going to start we just hit barrier by barrier and didn't succeed in even coming close to the Avenue of Stars since every spot there had been blocked off hours ago - before being shoved around back and forth we decided to just hang out next to the Sheraton and gave into our fate.
At least we were lucky to watch part of the fireworks since one of the 3 ships carrying the explosives was right in front of us - of course that didn't make up for missing out on the Lightshow and the harbour overview but at least we've got to mumble some OH's and AH's with about 350.000 others around us. Don't ask how long it took afterwards to disentangle the crowds...?! Next year we'll rent a hotel room with harbour view intime and have a private party....
Since the extended lightshow was on for the whole week I still managed to admire it a couple of days later and especially the pyrotechnics on top of the participating buildings were magnificent.



* then HK hosted its first International Ballroom Dancing Competition at Queen Elizabeth Stadium and some girlfriends and I found ourselves in the midst of cheering chinese dance enthusiasts - the program was all in chinese and we had not many clues about what was going on while the officials gave their endless speeches. We saw the semi-finals and finals of the international Standard and Latin Dancers and were reminded of the superb German Ballroom Dancing traditions after a german couple did win the Standard competition. The most impressive moment of the evening came when a huge crowd aged between 7 - 85 years old danced a mass ChaChaCha choreography, especially the youngest and the oldest were very sweet to watch. Inbetween there were lots of colourful performances by the local up-and-comings and while admiring the finalists of the age group of the 7-12 year olds I was wondering very strongly whether it makes ANY sense to continue my own efforts in mastering the Latin American Ballroom Dances, hmmmmmm........
- it's been 4 months of dancing classes in the meantime and I am still forgetting some steps and stagger around aimlessly...at least I am having a blast doing it and luckily our cute chinese dancing instructor has all the patience of the world....

* the week after we ventured out to participate in the Gymnastics Extravaganza at the Hong Kong Coliseum - HK hosted the Chinese national team including 2 current World Champions plus their own gymnstics elite. We watched unbelievable acrobatic and rhythmical gymnastics perfomances and got a glimpse of what the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics might look like. Once again the crowd was 95% Chinese with lots of Mainland travel groups who went ballistic once their Champions showed up. Unfortunately each of the visitors was given a plastic clapping hand upon entering the venue and even worse - made use of them at all times throughout the evening...I had a little boy with clapping hands in each hand sitting behind me and was ready to "clap him" inbetween - needless to state that I was half deaf when everything was finally over. This time even the written program was just in chinese and we had to make up our own interpretations of the proceedings - no wonder that no Westerner attends these events....on the other hand it's an exciting feeling to be surrounded by nothing than black haired heads ;-)



* last friday the final event for this summer which I would be able to follow, took place - the Wushu Spectacular which was mostly a performance for sponsors of the Wushu fighters but after finding out that there would be some tickets for the general public available I hopped on the next bus to hunt them down in the middle of nowhere...it's always rewarding once you finally managed to find the boxoffice to see how astonished the locals are when a westerner shows up and we could even communicate because they were mostly giggling students who spoke a little English. Once again it was a very interesting evening full of local culture and of course just in cantonese - although this time they provided the translation into a foreign language which was MANDARIN :-( I will definitely sign up for mandarin classes this fall since I am sick and tired of not understanding anything during these events!!! We also received a "blinking 10th Anniversary" button which luckily didn't make any noise - the funniest incident was that the only thing written in English was the small label that interrupted the battery contact and since the neighbours on both sides were elderly we had to provide development aid in sign language, hysterical. We did watch a lively dragon dance, the traditional lions were romping around and and lots of "Jackie Chan's-in-the-making" performed various stunning martial arts fighting scenes - meaning everything between the traditional Tai Chi to "Kung-Fu-fighting" demonstrations with all kinds of tools (sticks, swords, tridents, fans, etc.) - the body language of the performers was amazing - at times it was more like watching a perfectly choreographed ballet, especially with the music that accompanied most presentations. I include some pics to give you an idea - just don't forget to take a closer look at the officials on their stage - the size of the flower arrangements at their suit lapels made me expect them falling over at any minute, unfortunately it didn't happen, sigh ;-) and good-bye!








Thursday, July 19, 2007

Beijing 2008 and other curiosities

...just read this in our local newspaper, the South China Morning Post:

A mainland official said rockets would be fired to scatter rain clouds and ensure perfect weather for next year's Beijing Olympics, China Daily said. While the forecasts indicate good weather, officials had prepared for the unexpected, the report stated. They concede that rain prevention is difficult/Reuters

Hmmmm...this will become the perfect Games, no doubt...if anyone needs a perfect day for any outdoor event next year, give "the weathergods" in Beijing a ring, should work out then...

Today's headlines (!!!) by the way were "Starbucks retreats from the Forbidden City" (1/2 page) - yes, it seems to be THAT important since we're having no other current problems in the world...The Forbidden City is undergoing renovation at the moment to restore its imperial-era appearance, meaning the commercial symbols have to be toned down - I commented on Starbucks in a previous Blog - why the h...did they have to open one on such a historic site in the first place?!...and NO, that does not mean that I turn my back on Starbucks ;-)

...oh and by the way - field mice are back on the menu in Guangdong because Hunan has been overrun by 2 billion field mice driven from their nests by flood last week and many merchants spotted a business opportunity - meat for dinner - anybody?...in case you want to adopt some mice to save me from accidentally eating them, call me, I'll ship some over...eating mice was banned since the SARS outbreak in 2003.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Where are you located???

Wow guys - I am stunned!! Just checked my clustr map and saw all these dots in the States - except for NJ,NY,MI,IN,WI,TX and Georgia, I really don't have the slightest idea who is following the Blog in the meantime - maybe half of the former HK Community who relocated to the US or Americans on the move to HK????...some of my friends must have passed on the address....just out of curiosity - would you mind sending me emails who and where you are and why this Blog is interesting for you? The email address is on the footer of the Blog, can't wait to hear from you...if anyone ever needs infos about HK don't hesitate to contact me...as for now keep on reading and have fun. Ciao

Friday, July 6, 2007

Internet in China - unfortunately just in German

28.06.2007 (sueddeutsche.de)

Chinas Mittelschicht entdeckt das Internet
Meinung ja, Freiheit nein
Mit elektronischen Hilfsmitteln beginnt die chinesische Mittelschicht, sich öffentlich zu artikulieren. Doch zarte Keime bürgerlichen Engagements passen dem Pekinger Regime gar nicht in den Kram.

Von Johannes Kuhn

Die SMS war anonym und sie erreichte innerhalb weniger Stunden Tausende Bewohner der chinesischen Hafenstadt Xiamen: "Die Xianglu-Gruppe investiert in eine hochgiftige Chemiefabrik im Haicang-Distrikt. Das ist wie das Entzünden einer Atombombe in Xiamen. Wir werden an Leukämie erkranken und missgebildete Kinder gebären", konnten viele Handybesitzer Ende Mai auf ihrem Display lesen.

Nun sind die 2,3 Millionen Bewohner von Xiamen nicht gerade als Dissidenten bekannt: Die Industrie floriert, unter anderem steht dort eine Fabrik des deutschen iPhone-Zulieferers Balda. Doch der Bau einer 1,8 Milliarden Euro teuren Chemiefabrik direkt am Stadtrand beunruhigte die Bewohner. Normalerweise stehen Anlagen, die das Materiali Paraxylene (PX) produzieren, mindestens 20 Kilometer außerhalb eines Wohngebiets.

So wurde das Thema auch in Internetforen und Blogs aufgegriffen und diskutiert. Ehe die Zensoren einschreiten konnten, fanden sich Tausende Menschen zusammen, um gegen die Fabrik zu demonstrieren. Viele von ihnen gehörten zur Mittelschicht, die sich eigentlich loyal zu den Regierungsbehörden verhalten.

Die Stadtverwaltung wurde vom plötzlich aufkeimenden zivilen Ungehorsam kalt erwischt: Erst ließ sie verkünden, die Fabrik würde wie geplant gebaut und verordnete ihren Mitarbeitern Wochenendschichten, um sie an der Teilnahme an den Demonstrationen zu hindern. Kurz darauf musste Vizebürgermeister Ding Guoyan jedoch einlenken und einen Baustopp erlassen, um weitere Untersuchungen zu möglichen Umweltschäden zu ermöglichen.

Es gibt zarte Anzeichen dafür, dass sich in China Vorformen einer Zivilgesellschaft entwickelen – und sie führt ihre Debatte über das Internet. Als Anfang Juni Gerüchte über die Haltung junger Arbeitssklaven in der nördlichen Provinz Shanxi die Runde machten, wurden Internet-Foren schnell zum Multiplikator. Bald schon stand eine Online-Petition im Netz, in der die Eltern von für die Zwangsarbeit verschleppten Kindern um Hilfe baten.

Als sich auch die offiziellen Medien der Geschichte annahmen, hatten die chinesischen Behörden bereits Schritte eingeleitet: Regierungsangaben zufolge nahmen 45.000 Polizisten Razzien in mehr als 8.000 Ziegeleien und kleinen Kohle-Bergwerken vor, Hunderte von Zwangsarbeitern wurden seitdem befreit, Firmenbosse und korrupte Aufsichtsbeamte verhaftet.

56 Millionen Breitband-Anschlüsse
Es ist ein uneinheitliches Bild, das China im Jahr 2007 bietet: Auf der einen Seite besitzen 56 Millionen Chinesen einen Breitband-Internetanschluss, eine breite Mittelschicht entdeckt dadurch Chaträume und Internetforen. Die Regierung hat den Ausbau der Online-Infrastruktur durch staatliche Programme gefördert, nicht zuletzt, um Unternehmen aus dem In- und Ausland westliche Rahmenbedingungen zu bieten.

Die Kehrseite der Online-Medaille ist, dass China ein kontrolliertes Internet haben möchte, das die Autorität des Regimes in Frage stellen könnte - was bei der gigantischen Menge an Informationen, die durch die Datenleitungen fließen, ein mühsames Geschäft ist.

Gebetsmühlenartig wiederholt Chinas Staats- und Parteichef Hu Jintao seit einigen Monaten seine Forderung nach der Befreiung des Internets von "ungesunden" Inhalten.

In der Realität sieht das klinisch reine China-Net so aus: Die Festnahmen von Cyber-Dissidenten in China haben nach Angaben der Menschenrechts-Organisation Amnesty International in der jüngeren Vergangenheit nochmals zugenommen.

Ein "sauberes" Netz
Experten vermuten Schlüsselwort-Filter an wichtigen Knoten- und Endpunkten des Netzes und bis zu 30.000 Zensoren, die Online-Foren, Nachrichtenseiten und Blogs von staatlicher Seite aus überwachen.

Google bietet weiterhin nur eine vorzensierte Version seiner Suchmaschine an, die bei Suchworten wie "Falun Gong" keine Ergebnisse zeigt, die Fotocomunity Flickr ist von China aus zur Zeit gar nicht erreichbar – unter anderem, weil dort Fotos der Demonstrationen in Xiamen zu sehen sind.

"Die Informationsverbreitung ist ein wichtige Säule, um eine Zivilgesellschaft entstehen zu lassen“, erklärt der China-Experte Thomas Heberer von der Universität Duisburg, “was wir jetzt erleben, sind höchstens sehr frühe Vorformen eines Zivilbewusstseins.“

So sind die Demonstrationen gegen die Chemifabrik für ihn kein Umweltstatement, sondern nichts anderes als der Protest von Wohnungsbesitzern, die nicht neben einer vermeintlichen Giftanalage wohnen wollen. „Es hieß ja auch: Baut das Ding überall in China, nur nicht bei uns.“ Dazu passen auch die Gerüchte, dass Immobilienfirmen hinter der anonymen SMS steckten.

Frühe Vorformen des Zivilbewusstseins
Dirk Pleiter von Amnesty International vermutet, dass die Online-Vernetzung einer anderen Bevölkerungsgruppe der Regierung in Peking viel mehr Sorgen macht. So gibt China die Zahl der Unruhen jährlich zwischen 80.000 und 90.000 an.

“Die Proteste schaffen es aber nie, die lokale Ebene zu überschreiten“, sagt Pleiter, “Die Größe der Studentenproteste von 1989 war eine absolute Ausnahme, die der Staat um jeden Preis verhindern will – weil er wahrscheinlich wieder ähnlich reagieren würde.“

Ein möglicher Unruheherd ist die verarmte Landbevölkerung, die sich seit Jahren über die schlechten Lebensbedingungen beschwert. Würden sich hier Unruhen über die Provinzen hinweg verbreiten, könnte die Regierung die Situation nur schwer kontrollieren.

Deshalb, so Pleiter, “wird der Zugang zu Internetcafés immer weiter eingeschränkt.“ In Regionen wie Tibet, das nach Autonomie strebt, müssen sich Nutzer in Internetcafés sogar ausweisen.

Das Internet als Sensor für Themen mit Sprengkraft
Bisher hat die Methode Erfolg: “Das chinesische Volk weiß, dass die Informations- und Meinungsfreiheit auch im Internet seien Grenzen hat“, glaubt Pleiter und Heberer ergänzt: “Die Schrecken der Kulturrevolution sitzen immer noch tief. Die Mehrheit der Menschen möchte sich überhaupt nicht am öffentlichen Geschehen beteiligen.“

Wer es trotzdem tut und Informationen ins Internet stellt, die der Regierung nicht gefallen, kann durch die Dehnbarkeit der Gesetze schnell wegen Staatsverrats ins Gefängnis wandern.

Allerdings hat die chinesische Regierung zumindest begriffen, dass Einschüchterung alleine nicht mehr reicht. Als die Situation der Arbeitssklaven von Shanxi thematisiert wurde, mussten die Behörden reagieren, um den entstehenden gesellschaftlichen Druck abzubauen.

Das Internet, so scheint es, ist ein idealer Sensor, um solche Themen auszuspüren und ihnen von vorneherein die Sprengkraft zu nehmen. Und auch die Kraft des Mobiltelefons hat das Regime bereits für seine Zwecke genutzt: Als 2005 Proteste gegen Japan schüren wollte, organisierten die Funktionäre die Demonstrationen per SMS.

Die eigentliche Zivilgesellschaft, glaubt Heberer deshalb, entsteht an anderen Stellen: “In einigen Ostküsten-Städten wie Shenyang und Shanghai herrscht durch die vielen Einwanderer und ausländischen Investoren ein liberaleres Klima. Dort beginnen die Menschen, ihre Bürgerrechte vor Gericht einzuklagen. Und sie bekommen sogar manchmal Recht.“

Die Bewohner von Xiamen hingegen konnten ihre neue Kommunikationsfreiheit nur kurz ausleben: Inzwischen sind die Foren-Einträge zum Thema Chemiefabrik gelöscht, Handy-Kurzmitteilungen mit entsprechenden Schlüsselwörtern erreichen ihren Empfänger nicht mehr.

Chinas Weg in die Demokratie scheint also trotz besserer Vernetzung eher einem langen Marsch gleichen – aber an große Sprünge nach vorn hat man im Reich der Mitte ohnehin keine guten Erinnerungen.


(sueddeutsche.de)

Saturday, June 30, 2007

China - spontaneous association after 20 months

* drying laundry everywhere * loud chatter * mobile phones * bamboo scaffolding * people walking criss cross, bumping into each other * street hawkers * tiny temples/shrines on almost every street corner * sleeping people in all possible positions * water & air pollution * tropical rain storms * mahjongg * name cards * counterfeits * shopping lanes * latest electronic gadets * face business * lai see (red money packet for chinese NY) * hikers with umbrellas wrapped in multilayer clothing in 34 degrees * junks * gambling * fortune tellers * fung shui * panda bears * domestic helpers * modernization * materialism * congee (soup) * karaoke * squatting * spitting * Tai Chi * Calligraphy * Dim Sum * bribes & corruption * chopsticks * skyscrapers * demonstrations * tea * naked bellies since the shirts are rolled up to their armpits when it's hot

That about sums it up for me right now after 10 minutes of quick brainstorming - just wanted to write it down to not forget it....as you can tell, it must be raining cats & dogs outside and I am unable to leave the appartment and too lazy to read ;-)

In the latest issue of HK Magazine some famous people were asked what they love about HK - one particular answer expressed exactly how I am feeling too:

"Most Cities alienate, Hong Kong has a great sense of belonging"

Friday, June 29, 2007

Pink Dolphins in Hong Kong

This week I finally booked a tour to take a look at the famous pink dolphins of HK and I must tell you - it was well worth it. We boarded a junk from the Hong Kong Dolphinwatch Company in Tung Chung/Lantau Island and cruised the waters for about 45 minutes. Mostly these dolphins are seen north of Lantau and had been unknown to the world until the early 90s when they started building the new airport at Chek Lap Kok which put them into the spotlight. We were told that they are born dark grey, fade into a lighter shade of grey when they're about 8 months old and keep on changing their colour over the next couple of years, sometimes grey spots remain. The fellow below reminds me of my times as a competition swimmer when I used to swim backstroke.

Their average life span is about 40 years but the dolphins in HK won't survive much more than 20 years due to the deterioration of the environment, meaning
* a damaged ecosystem and seabed due to reclaiming many coastal areas for building new airports, shipping terminals, roads, etc.

* being caught in fishing nets and drowning

* having an ever shrinking home due to heavy sea traffic - large amounts of passenger and freight ships are crossing through that area which raises the danger of the dolphins getting hit and it also puts a lot of stress on them (loud noises from boat engines) which results in a weakend immune system followed by sickness such as ulcers or pneumonia

*polluted waters - HK flushes about 2 million tonnes of sewage into the sea daily from which approx. 400 million litres go directly into north Lantau where the dolphins are living. Much more sewage is coming down from the Pearl River, which drains 1/8 of China's population. This means even if sewage treatment will step up in HK, if it's not matched in the Mainland, the HK dolphins still face serious risks.

We were also told that about half of the dead dolphins each year are newborns. A first-born baby for example receives a decade of accumulated toxins from its mother via the milk and therfore becomes an easy victim of pollution. A dead dolphin in HK is declared "being toxic waste" - isn't this just plain awful? Just picture them nibbling on a plastic bag because they think it's a jelly fish....below I'll attach the picture of a completely dirty beach we came across while hiking on Cheung Chau, most of the waste being washed ashore from people throwing it overboard from their ships, arrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhh :-(





Despite these depressing facts we were very excited spotting them which is not an easy task since they don't tend to appear in packs. You really have to keep your eyes focussed on the water surface to not miss the second they'll stick their heads out. We were fortunate to even see a mother/baby duo which was super cute. I have to say that they were also much pinker than I expected them to be. Of course I can't take credit for having taken these pictures - no way I could have done this with my small camera. The photographer responsible for them accompanies the tours 3 times a week since years and sometimes gets lucky to catch the perfect shot - a lot of patience is needed though.....HEY, are you still with me or did you fall asleep trying to read through all that "stuff", I know from experience that the attention spans are low these days :-) Take care and I hope you'll recover!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Handover Festivities


...looks like we're having a busy weekend ahead of us - july 1st is the 10th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong. There will be parades, parties and various events throughout the City. We're especially looking forward to the extended lightshow (=Symphony of Lights) on sunday where a total of 43 buildings will be featured with 23 on Hong Kong Island and 20 on Kowloon side. The show will be launched with rooftop pyrotechnic displays on both sides and followed by huge fireworks - keep your fingers crossed that we'll be out of the clouds by then! On sunday afternoon we'll be probabely having a field day with the soccer teams of 1.FC Bayern : Sao Paulo Football Club playing a match in Hong Kong Stadium - as you can see, Munich is just around the corner and I think I have to keep Michael from his usual brasilian chants during the match ;-)

Monday, June 25, 2007

Dragonboat Raceday Pictures

uff....finally - there are about a gazillion pictures to comb through and here are the funniest ones and of course, some of our team. Most pics are from the official website or from friends since I had no time to take care of it. Have fun......